Charging of cocoa-butter presses and the like



Apr. 10, 1923.

W. E. PRESCOTT CHARGING 0F COCOA BUTTER PR ESSES AND THE LIKE 1919 2 sheets-sheet 1 F1186 Sept.

H mm Apr. 10, 1923. 1,451,432

w. E. PRESCOTT CHARGING OF COCOA BUTTER PRESSES AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 27, 1919 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Apr. 150, i923.

UNETE.

\VILLIAl/I EDWARD PRESCOTT, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR SONS,LIMITED,-OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

r TENT-f o aries.-

CI-IARGING OF COCOA BUT'IER PRESSES AND THE LIKE.

Application filed sep te mber 27 1919. Serial No. 826,930.

To all whomit may concern." I

Be it known that I, lVILLmM EDWARD PRESCOTT, of Harlesden, London, N. Eng

land, engineer, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, have invented certainnew and useful improvements Eelat ing to the Charging of Cocoa-Butter Presses and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the charging of the pans of cocoa-butter presses. with the liquid to be pressed, and it is applicable in pouring the liquid into them by hand by the general to presses of. a, similar'kind when used for other liquid materials. J i

In charging cocoa-butter presses at present in use, it is customary to fill the pans by use of a bucket or the like.

According to the present invention a se ries, or several series, of vessels is orare arranged in proximlty to the press, one vessel for each pan, and means are provided for,

filling these vessels with measured quantities of the liquid so that each vessel may contain :a charge for its respective pan and no more.- Such series of vessels can then bemoved towards the pans, and'where there is a pan in position for receiving a charge, such charge. will be automatically causedto flow from the vessel into the pan. j s

In cocoasbutter presses the pans are usually withdrawn from filling, some to the one side and the remainder to the other side of the central column of the press. WVith such apress, two series of filling vessels would be employed. i

The accompanying drawings show an embodiment of the invention applied to a conventional form of cocoa-butter press. Fig. l is a front elevation, Fig. 2 a side elevation at right angles to Fig. 1, showing part only of the press. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofFig..2, and Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged scale showing two of the charging vessels.

Fig. 5 is a detail showing the construction of the discharge valve and operating mechanism therefor,

In said drawings, a designates the press adapted to receive the pans Z) capable of being withdrawn by hand or other suitable means into the filling position in which three of said pans are shown in broken lines at the right hand side of Fig. 2 at 6 it being assumed that the alternate pans will be withdrawn for filling atthe opposite side of the press, the pans being. withdrawn to opposite sides alternately, this being the customary methodof operation in this type of press. c

For each of said pans there is provided a separate filling vessel a mounted each on an arm d projecting from a vertical hollow rock shaft 6', which is carried by brackets e extending from a casting or frame 6 provided at the'side of the press and through which shaft there may extend a pipe f for circulation of steam or other heating medium derived from any suitable sources (not shown) and if required discharging into coils or the like about the filling vessels to assist in maintaining the liquid in the vessels 0 at the de sired temperature and consistency wherethe nature of the liquid requires this to be done. The liquid,1such as a mixture consisting of ground cocoa-beans with. their butter contents, is contained in a jacketed tank 9. from which it is raised through the pipe to the uppermost vessel 0 as by means of a rotary TO arosnrn BAKER &

pump g and'each vessel is provided with an orifice or spout c closable by a normally closed spring-pressed trip-valve 0 for. discharge, and also with an overflow, pipe h extendingdown within the vessel-toa short distance from the bottomthereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 4: of the drawings.

terminatingabovein a lantern or like valve W henthe uppermost vessel 0 is charged through thepipe. 9 the liquid continuing to flow therein passes by way of the valve h and overflow pipe it into the next vessel below, fills the latter and similarly overflows to the next vessel, and so on until all the vessels of the series are filled, the overflow from the lowermost vessel passingiback to the tank 9. o

By the adj ustability of the lantern valve k the quantity of liquid fed to each vessel before it overflows to the next can be'accurate 1y determined according to the requirements of the press.

The vessels 0 having then been all filled, each with a proper charge of liquid, the series of vessels is swung towards the press by rotating the rock-shaft e as: by means of a hand-lever if and where there is a pan ready to receive the contents of itscorresponding vessel (viz: the withdrawn pans b of Fig. 2) the trip valve 0 on the spout of the vessel will be automatically depressed and opened by any appropriate means such'as by a trip lever j carried by the pan, the con tents of the vessel being thus discharged into the pan, which may then be reintroduced into the press.

The members 93 are the usual form of tighteners used in presses of this character for forcing the pans up against the discharge dishes marked 3 Steam pipes are provided for heating the jacketed dishes or plungers 00 these being ofa construction now commonly in use and forming no particular part'ot' the )resent invention.

Instead of the hollow shaft and steam pipe illustrated, the series of vessels when swung away from the press may lie partially within the curve or recess of a suitably shaped heating jacket or wall, so that the liquid in those vessels not yet discharged may not solidify therein, and instead of a separate overflow pipe to each filling vessel, a separate pump may bev used to force the liquid into same, or branches may be led direct to each vessel from a pump common to them all.

To keep the contents of the vessels in movement stirrers may be provided to be operated by chain or other gearing from chain wheels or the like loosely rotating on the rock shaft. and themselves rotated by gearing from a parallel shaft which can be operated mechanically or by hand.

These modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art'to which the inventionrelates and it is considered unnecessary that they should be described in detail or illustrated.

What I claim asfmy invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:'- r

1. In charging apparatus-for cocoa butter presses and the like the combination with a series of withdrawable pans of a series of charging vessels for said pans disposed .in proximity to the press, means for charging said vessels each with a measured quantity of liquid, means for moving said vessels towards the withdrawn pans, and means for discharging the contents of said vessels into the pans.

2. In charging apparatus for cocoa butter presses and the like the combination with a series of withdrawable pans of a series of charging vessels for said pans disposed in proximity to the press with means for charging said vessels each with a measured quantity of liquid, means for moving said vessels towards the withdrawn pans, means tor discharging the-contents of said vessels into the pans and an adjustable overflow for each charging vessel adapted to con trol the measure otthe liquid charge and cause the surplus to flow into succeeding vessels below until the whole series is charged, the remainder flowing from the lowermost vessel back to a source of supply.

3. In charging apparatus for cocoa butter pressesand thelike, the combination vith a series of withdrawable pans of a series of charging vessels for said pans disposed in proximity to the press with means for charging said vessels each with a measured quantity of liquid, means for moving said vessels towards the withdrawn pans and a valved outlet for each charging vessel adapted to be opened during the act of moving the vessels towards the pans.

4. In charging apparatus for cocoa-butter presses and the like, the combination with a series of withdrawable pans of a series of charging vessels for said pans disposed in" proximity to the press with means for chargingsaid vessels each with a measured quantity of liquid, a vertical rocksha-ft on which the charging vessels are mounted, means for rocking said shaft whereby the vessels are swung to discharging position. and means for discharging the contents of the respective charging vessel into a withdrawn pan.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification.

fWILLl AM EDWARD PRESCOTT. 

